Tremble – ‘What Is Anything’

If you think Los Angeles is one of those places that you need a car to get around, then you’ve probably not been there. Take Downtown LA – DTLA to the locals and those who know – it’s best to navigate it on foot, and that way you get to see the alleyways and back streets that show the City Of Angels in its truest offbeat light. Tremble are all Los Angelinos, and the trio know their way around the often grimy neighbourhoods of the city’s centre. ‘What Is Anything’, the band’s latest single, is a love letter to LA, with the video a sleekly stylish tour of Little Tokyo, and the Arts District.

Tremble’s music is, like the band themselves, naturally adventurous. The sound is electronica but with an unmistakebly human element, with nods to 90s trip hop, Krautrock, and modern soundtracks, as well as the darker elements of pop. The track is from their second EP, ‘What Is Anything Anyway’, which expands on their debut, ‘In The Chaos’, an artistic success. The new record is deeper, more emotive and engrossing, and basically more of everything that sets them apart.

Tremble have a screne presence that comes of the three – singer Kelly Sweet and producer-musicians Haywire and Ajax – being industry veterans, used to the limelight, and in the clip for ‘What Is Anything’, they serve as generous tour guides. We see landmarks that LA residents know well, including the Liki Lakich Studio for Neon Signs, the Angel City Brewery, and the colourful tiled murals of Little Tokyo. Pausing dramatically on the 4th Street Viaduct Bridge (which in recent years, lost its “twin”, the 6th Street Viaduct Bridge), and look over the Los Angeles River, while the sun sets. We also get to have a look in their studio, which will hold some significance for some – it contains a rare Russian Polivoks Synthesiser. Shot on an iPhone with natural lighting, the video for ‘What Is Anything’ is a visual feast of the gorgeousness of LA, and if it doesn’t make you want to immediately jump on a plane and head to the West Coast, then I don’t know what will.